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Watch: What It Would Be Like If Men Had Periods

At that dreaded time of the month, many a woman has always wondered if there was a way that men could perhaps experience the agony and general messy unpleasantness that comes with having your period.

A new campaign called ‘If Men Had Periods’ was launched just recently to mark Menstrual Hygiene Day, and British company WaterAid created some parodies of typical tampon ads, usually aimed at women. This one is called The ‘Manpon.’ Cue the overly butch theme music and a voiceover artist trying to sound as macho as possible. *sigh* We really hate stereotypes.

The clip is supposed to be taken in a lighthearted manner, and tries to tell the viewer this; basically if a lad got their period they’d act all grand and be totally able to cope with it. AS IF. These men have clearly never experienced agonising cramps before, so we think the short ad is fairly inaccurate.

On a more serious note, though the parody is supposed to be light-hearted, the overall campaign is intended to highlight a much more serious cause. It aims to highlight the 1.25 billion women who don’t have access to a toilet during their periods and the stigma women can experience during their menstrual cycles.

“Every day 800 million women have their period, and yet most of us consider it an embarrassing and taboo subject,” WaterAid’s Chief Executive Officer Barbara Frost said. “There are even elaborate euphemisms to avoid saying the word ‘period.’ So we have had a bit of fun trying to imagine whether attitudes would be different if men had periods,” she added.

WaterAid are asking people to sign their ‘Make it Happen’ petition to help get women the dignity they deserve. You can sign it HERE.

WaterAid did extensive research before launching their campaign, and they found that if men had periods they would be considered a sign of virility, men would brag about them on Facebook, #imonmyperiod would probably trend regularly on Twitter, and tampon adverts would be fronted by celebrities – yet women still get stereotyped when it comes to their menstrual cycles. How annoyingly typical.

Watch the clip for the parody ad below:

What do you think of the ‘Manpon’ parody?

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